Rearming the UK: What equipment? and how much?

Someone in MoD has done 2+2 = 4....

"Whilst this week, the MOD agreed to regenerate the UK’s ability to produce forgings for gun barrels, working in partnership with Sheffield Forgemasters, supporting the repair and overhaul of Ukrainian vehicles; this is the first step towards UK sovereign barrel production which has been developing for 20 years. "

Barrel manufacturing for 155 and 105 is starting again....at Forgemasters in Sheffield, which the MoD owns....

Huge facility and genuinely world class at what they do....these are the guys who made the barrels for Saddam's Supergun...(and let MI-5 know that it wasn't an oil pipe...so it could be stopped before shipping...). If anyone can make high end barrels and turn them out at a real pace its them....and BAE aren't involved!

www.gov.uk

UK Government and defence industry stepping up support for Ukraine

Defence Secretary John Healey met UK defence industry leaders to discuss support for Ukraine
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk
 
More good news...expansion at MBDA and continuous production shift...


MBDA seem to be also confirming Land Precision Strike is a goer....and Meteor development (presumably an AESA seeker variant or dual mode...apparently Germnay has committed funds already...).

https://imgur.com/a/63Xvkb0
View: https://imgur.com/a/63Xvkb0


Missiles (from far left to right)
Spear-EW
Aster 30
Land Precision Strike (upper image)
Spear
Aster 30 1NT
CAMM
Sea Venom (bottom image)
FCASW Supersonic
Asraam Block VI
Brimstone (bottom image)
Meteor
Storm Shadow (largest missile)
FCASW Subsonic

Pity they couldn't use the new GCAP CGI and Type 31 instead of 23....

Does show the Supacat HMT (Wolfram) for BGOAA...

Only things missing are CAMM-ER and CAMM-MR....be nice to see a UK ASROC solution as well...does appear to confirm the CAMM/Brimstone mashup has been ditched in favour of the Spear variant for LPS...real shame that, had a lot of applications...
 
Interesting....as LM lost out in the SiAW race last year, and as the UK is looking to develop Hypersonic Weapons they appear to be trying to enter the UK market. Presumably Ampthill, the old Hunting Engineering outfit taken over by LM, would be the centre of any operation...is this an admittance that Mako has no future, at least at present, in the US?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1816102364736008260
View: https://twitter.com/LMUKNews/status/1816102364736008260


Article Text from The Telegraph - A clear planted article from LM mind...

The US defence giant Lockheed Martin has said it is prepared to choose the UK as the location to develop a jet-fired hypersonic missile before making it in America.
The company pointed to the Mako, a prototype, manoeuvrable missile named after the fastest shark in the seas, as an example of the type of versatile weapon it is willing to pioneer with the UK.
It is capable of reaching speeds exceeding Mach 5 and was designed to be fired from fighters such as the F-35 stealth jet, used by the Royal Navy, on missions such as air-to-sea strikes, anti-air defence strikes and other air-to-ground strikes.

Developing this type of advanced weapon outside the US, which helped to fund the initial work on Mako, would be a departure from the norm for Lockheed.

But Tim Cahill, president for missiles and fire control at Lockheed, said such technology-sharing was now possible under the Aukus agreement – between the UK, US and Australia – and would help each nation pick priorities for defence spending at a time of constrained budgets.
Speaking to The Telegraph at the Farnborough International Airshow, he said: “I think Mako is a great example, because it’s a multi mission missile that we could use a hypersonic version of that’s got good range and good speed and good compatibility with a number of platforms.
“These are places where the UK could clearly contribute and become the master.”
His comments come as the new Labour Government is carrying out a major defence review that will recommend the capabilities Britain should aim for, and potentially those it should axe.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has previously said it is seeking to develop a sovereign hypersonic missile capability by 2030 and is working with around 90 companies to evaluate options.

The Mako missile

The Mako is designed to be fired from fighters such as the F-35 stealth jet CREDIT: Lockheed Martin

Mr Cahill argued that the UK should find “gaps” in capability that need to be plugged and that Lockheed was willing to bring development of a Mako-style hypersonic missile to the UK as part of those efforts.

This would include partnering with British companies on production and the supply chain.
He added: “Resources are stretched in all our countries. If the UK can bring that investment and focus, that’ll be something Australia and the United States don’t have to do – they’ll put their focus somewhere else but everybody gets better.
“With Aukus, there’s an openness to moving technology and advancing so you become the best.
“Each country will make their own decisions. But it doesn’t have to just be ‘buy from the United States’ or ‘build up some capability from scratch’.
“The world has changed. Aukus is new and you see us talking openly about co-production around the world with the blessing and support of the United States government.
“So we can do these things, it doesn’t have to be the old model.”

Advancing the Aukus agreement​

The Aukus agreement, which was signed by the governments of the UK, US and Australia, was originally drawn up to share sensitive technology for nuclear-powered submarines amid a growing threat from China in the Pacific.
However, “pillar 2” of the deal is also seen by defence experts as hugely important because it covers technology-sharing in cutting edge areas such as hypersonic weapons and quantum computing.
Hypersonic missiles, which operate at significantly faster speeds than standard cruise missiles, have the ability to evade an opponent’s air defences by travelling at more than 4,000 miles per hour and manoeuvring in mid-flight.
Hypersonic cruise missiles speeds compared

The US has already tested some hypersonic missiles, which it says is vital to keep pace with missile technology in Russia and China. Both of the latter claim to have developed similar technology.
Since late last year, the MoD has also been running a consortium of around 80 companies to come up with possible designs for a British missile.
This project, revealed by The Telegraph, is currently being managed directly by MoD headquarters in Whitehall, rather than by one of the three armed services and has been described as a “national mission”.
However, the tight timescales – a deadline of 2030 – may make it more likely that the MoD will seek to partner with a company such as Lockheed that has already spent years on design work.

Lockheed’s Mako missile has been under development for the past seven years and received funding from the US Air Force, but has not yet been ordered by the Pentagon.
It lost out to a rival in the US Stand-In Attack Weapon (SiAW) programme last year. That programme sought to field an air-launched weapon to counter air defence platforms, surface to air missiles and anti-ship missile launchers.
The MoD was contacted for comment.
 
This does seem to be a planted story intended to distract from persistent rumors of massive defence cuts inbound.
 
You would first have to find the laws that were broken - if any. Then you would have to consider which politicians were the enthousiasts for outsourcing everything, from software for defence down to managing prisons. And think about why those politicians were voted in anyway.
 
Arjen said:
You would first have to find the laws that were broken - if any. Then you would have to consider which politicians were the enthousiasts for outsourcing everything, from software for defence down to managing prisons. And think about why those politicians were voted in anyway.
Click to expand...
Gave personnel of enemy states information regarding, and access to, a highly classified and crucial defence asset. Since when was that ever not treason?

It was a private firm that outsourced it according to the article so, on this rare occasion, not the fault of politicians.
 
What I have read so far indicates personnel data were managed by systems coded by Belarussian programmers. Which seems a daft idea. My only legal background is in some bits of Dutch law, so I will leave the legal ramifications of this affair to experts on UK law. With recent shouty DT headlines I am left wondering how much of this will lead to charges of treason for anyone involved.
 
Folks,

The new UK Govt has only been in power for just over a month and has announced a Strategic Defence Review only a few weeks ago. Don't go crying the sky is falling or playing into arguably politically biased clickbait etc so quickly. Wait until there are some facts and then assess the facts.
 
timmymagic said:
I'm a big fan of the infrastructure side of things. But should we not be building it larger? P-8 sized at least?
Click to expand...
That would be ideal, but it's a good start nonetheless, and should be good enough for the UK's needs. I have a suspicion it might be slightly larger than F-35 sized, perhaps in support for GCAP. I am willing to be proven wrong however.
 
Jason Dykstra (Wyvern) said:
That would be ideal, but it's a good start nonetheless, and should be good enough for the UK's needs. I have a suspicion it might be slightly larger than F-35 sized, perhaps in support for GCAP. I am willing to be proven wrong however.
Click to expand...
If they haven't specced it for GCAP size (I'm sure they have) they need shooting...but its not a giant leap to P-8 size from there...and you get a facility that has real long term use (they also tend to pay for themselves when others have to hire it out as well...
 
Forest Green said:
Nuclear-tipped Dark Eagle, here we come. Wasn't there also some consideration about using some Vanguards as SSGNs when the Dreadnoughts come on line, so maybe CPS too?
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If the UKRN can afford to keep them all crewed. I understand that yall have been having trouble with that...
 
A jet powered British Harpy anyone?

Turns out this OWA that some people thought was a Ukrainian Palyayntsia missile was in fact a British drone called the Modini Dart 250....

Modini make their own jet engine as well....and apparently its terrain following...

It also has an EW version that homes on emitters that debuted at the recent Polish MSPO2024 expo...


Interesting thread with some observations and imagery...doesn't say much about the launch cart, but it appears to be remotely steered, braked....and I think powered by electric motors...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1832824738688970764
View: https://x.com/DanielR33187703/status/1832824738688970764


Said drone on a test flight, showing assembly, launch (on a far simpler cradle) and free flight. Looks like it was done in eastern europe at an old WarPac airfield, probably Poland...as a result, and with it being seen at the same time as the first strike using a Palyayntsia missile in Ukraine, everyone assumed it was the same thing...turns out it was a seperate UK development.

Wonder if this was from the funding that MoD was casting about for long range strike and drones....we only saw a pic of the QinetiQ 3D printed unit and the Banshee....

https://twitter.com/x/status/1827381368675803427
View: https://x.com/Bricktop_NAFO/status/1827381368675803427


www.modini.co.uk

Modini - Design, build and delivery of uncrewed systems

Modini specialise in the design, development, test, evaluation and operational delivery of complex uncrewed systems (UxS). Modini also offers a line of UxS sub-systems such as gas turbine engines, pressurised fuelling systems, launch solutions and flight controllers.
www.modini.co.uk www.modini.co.uk
 
timmymagic said:
Wonder if this was from the funding that MoD was casting about for long range strike and drones....we only saw a pic of the QinetiQ 3D printed unit and the Banshee....
Click to expand...
I can only imagine that it is part of that program, they've been very quiet about the developments going on during the past 2 years.
 

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